Advanced Search: Want to find out about illustration projects near you? Or maybe bacon-themed projects? Use the advanced search feature to explore projects that interest you. Want to know how advanced search works? Learn more here.

Advanced Search allows you to create custom searches using a wide variety of filters — location, category, tags, and there's even a way to view only live projects. Search results can also be sorted in order of popularity, launch date, end date, or by funding. The new default sort, “magic,” displays a rotating cross section of compelling projects from every category on Kickstarter.

Categories can be selected from the first drop-down in the search phrase. Meanwhile, if you’d like to view a subcategory (e.g. Video Games or Tabletop Games), you should first select the parent category (Games) from the drop-down, and any available subcategories will appear to the right.

By default, projects from everywhere (on Earth, at least) will be displayed in search results. If you’d like to add further search criteria, you can do so by clicking the + sign at the end of the search phrase. This will allow you to enter a specific search term, and filter by Staff Picks, your Starred projects, your backed projects, or even the percent of funding raised. And if you've connected Facebook to Kickstarter, you can even filter by projects your friends are backing.

To pledge to a project, first make sure that you're logged in to your Kickstarter account.Then, just click the green “Back This Project” button on any project page.

On the next page, you'll enter your pledge amount and select a reward tier. If you select a reward that involves shipping, you'll be prompted to include this additional amount in your pledge.

After selecting "Continue to next step," you'll confirm your payment details. If you've backed a project before and saved your payment method details, you can use them over again. If not, you'll need to enter the information manually.

And woo-hoo! You're all set. You'll receive a confirmation email within moments of completing your pledge.

You can use a debit or credit card associated with Visa, Discover, MasterCard, or American Express. Sorry, but we do not currently accept Maestro, or Visa Electron cards. If using a pre-paid credit card, please make sure that the card has a value of at least $1 more than your pledge amount.

At this time, only backers based in Germany pledging less than €250 towards a German project will have the option to use SEPA direct debit as their payment method. Just a reminder that pledges are only charged at the end of a project's campaign if it is successfully funded.

In order for your pledge to count towards a project's funding goal, you must pledge through the project page using a credit card. If you decide to send funds to the creator outside of Kickstarter (cash, check, etc.), you will not be reflected as a backer.

We’ve recently partnered with Stripe to help make launching and backing projects easier. Stripe meets and exceeds the most stringent industry standards for security. You can learn more about the technical details of Stripe's secure infrastructure here.

We also take your privacy very seriously. Kickstarter does not store full credit card numbers, but instead, only the last four digits and expiration date. Saving your payment details for future use is entirely optional. For more information, please review our Privacy Policy.

If the project you’re backing is successfully funded, your card will be charged when the project reaches its funding deadline. If the project does not reach its funding goal, your card is never charged.

If you've backed a project that's still live and you're seeing a charge on your bank statement, it's likely a temporary authorization of funds. The time it takes for an authorization to clear depends on the bank, but typically takes 1–3 days. You won't be charged for your pledge until the project you backed has ended successfully.

Project creators will see your Kickstarter account name, your pledge amount, and the reward you’ve selected. If funding for the project succeeds, we’ll also provide the project creator with your email address, in case they need to contact you about your reward. See our Privacy Policy for more details.

On Kickstarter, it is only possible to pledge to each project once from a single account. Accordingly, backers can only choose one reward tier per pledge. However, you can change your pledge amount and reward selection for as long as a project is live.

We don’t currently have an anonymous pledge feature. But you’re free to choose any account name you like — so if you don’t want to be personally connected to your pledges, just choose a name that’s not identifiable (e.g., CatLuvr02).

If you have questions or want to reach out to a creator, just click on the 'Contact me' button on the project page. For projects that are successfully funded, click the creator's profile image to see this option.

If you don’t have a connection to the creator, you may want to get a better idea about who they are. Read through the project description and watch the video to get a sense of the person or team behind the project

In the creator bio section of each project, you can find additional resources like links to websites, relevant background information, and in some cases, a connected Facebook account. For projects that have launched since May 19, 2014, you'll also find a verified name with a check mark next to it. This person is the creator of the project or a part of the company or team behind it, and they verified their identity through an automated process.

When a project is overfunded backers sometimes wonder: what happens with all that “extra” money? If a creator has a funding goal of $5,000 and raises $25,000, what do they do with the $20,000 they didn’t ask for?

What the creator does in that case varies greatly depending on the project.

Most of the time what seems like “extra” money isn’t extra at all. Ten times the funding often means ten times the backers. More rewards have to be produced and distributed, and creators need that funding to do it (and sometimes some of their own money too).

Sometimes when a project is overfunded it lets the creator put that money back into the project to create something better for the backers and themselves. More songs on an album, additional game elements, better materials, etc.

In other cases, overfunding leads to better margins and the creator may even profit from the project. This often means that the creator can continue the project beyond Kickstarter — and backers are part of that story.

It is the responsibility of the project creator to fulfill the promises of their project. Kickstarter reviews projects to ensure they do not violate our rules, however Kickstarter does not investigate a creator's ability to complete their project.

Creators are encouraged to share links to any websites that show work related to the project, or past projects. It's up to them to make the case for their project and their ability to complete it. Because projects are usually funded by the friends, fans, and communities around their creators, there are powerful social forces that keep creators accountable.

The web is an excellent resource for learning about someone’s prior experience. If someone has no demonstrable history of doing something like their project, or is unwilling to share information, backers should consider that when weighing a pledge. If something sounds too good to be true, it very well may be. For more information about backing and launching projects on Kickstarter, please visit our Trust & Safety page.

In general, no. However, some US projects started by or with a 501(c)(3) organization may offer tax deductions. If so, this will be touted on the project page. If you have questions about tax deductions, please contact the project creator directly via the "Contact me" button on the project page.

Each project has an RSS feed of its project updates. To subscribe to it you can simply copy and paste the project URL into your RSS reader. Most readers will automatically detect and subscribe to the updates.

The Remind Me button lets you keep tabs on projects you’re interested in but maybe aren’t ready to back yet. When you star a project, you can reference it at any time in your starred projects. 48 hours before the project ends, you’ll get a reminder email giving you a chance to become a backer before the deadline. If you've already backed the project, you won't receive a reminder email.

Backer Questions:
Managing your pledge

In the active pledges section, you'll be able to see your current live pledges, the amounts you've decided to pledge, the rewards you've selected, and more important details. If you'd like to change a pledge amount or reward selection, just click on the project title next to the corresponding pledge and select edit next to your pledge amount.

The collected pledges section lists all pledges for which you've already been charged. If you selected rewards, you can sort this list by estimated delivery date — and you can even select "Got it!" once rewards arrive.

The uncollected pledges section documents all of your pledges that won't be charged, in addition to any pledges that were refunded. This includes projects that were not successfully funded, or pledges that you decided to cancel.

Visit the project page and click the blue “Manage" button that appears next to your pledge amount. Enter a new amount in the pledge amount box. Note that you are not adding to your existing pledge; the amount you enter will be the total amount collected if the project is successfully funded.

By pledging, you are committing to supporting that person’s project; canceling that commitment is discouraged. If you must cancel, visit the project page and click the blue “Manage" button that appears next to your pledge amount. At the bottom of the next page you’ll see the “Cancel Pledge” button.

Backer Questions:
Getting rewards

Project creators will send an email survey to request any information they need to deliver you and your fellow backers’ rewards. Survey questions may include shipping address, size, color, or other project-specific preferences.

Surveys are sent by the creator only after a project has been successfully funded, and the funding period is over. Some creators send surveys right away; others wait until they’re ready to deliver rewards. If you think you might have missed a survey email, please log in to your Kickstarter account to check — you’ll see a yellow notification bar at the top of the site for any missed surveys. Once you complete a survey, you'll receive an email confirmation that includes a copy of your responses.

If you’ve already submitted your backer survey, you can review your response by visiting the project page and clicking the 'Your response' text in the bottom of the reward tier you selected.

If the creator of this project has enabled address changes, you’ll notice an option at the top of this modal that will allow you to change your shipping information. If the creator has not enabled address changes, or you’d like to modify your responses to any other questions on this survey, reach out to the project creator directly to request your changes.

Projects have an Estimated Delivery Date under each reward on the project page. This date (month and year) is entered by project creators as their best guess for delivery to backers.

Estimated delivery dates are not firm ship dates. When projects launch on Kickstarter they’re often in the early stages of development and the project itself must first be completed before rewards can be fulfilled.

Older projects may not have this information. Check the project's updates or comments to see if the creator has indicated when they plan to deliver rewards. If a creator is communicative about delivery taking longer than expected, we ask that you take that transparency into account. If a creator is not communicating and you want to know what’s going on, contact the creator by posting a public comment or sending them a private message.

The first step is checking the Estimated Delivery Date on the project page. Backing a project is a lot different than simply ordering a product online, and sometimes projects are in very early stages when they are funded.

If the Estimated Delivery Date has passed, check for project updates that may explain what happened. Sometimes creators hit unexpected roadblocks, or simply underestimate how much work it takes to complete a project. Creators are expected to communicate these setbacks should they happen.

If the creator hasn’t posted an update, send them a direct message to request more information about their progress, or post a public comment on their project asking for a status update.

Backer Questions:
Profile settings

When you create a Kickstarter account, a basic profile page is created for you. It displays your chosen account name, the date the account was created, and a list of projects you have backed or launched. To that, you can add as much or as little information as you want — like a picture, a bio, or a link to your website.

This page isn’t searchable on Kickstarter, and it’s de-indexed, so it can’t be found via search engines like Google. But whenever your account name appears on the site (for instance, when you post comments, send messages, or back projects), people can click that account name to see your profile. Make sure anything you add follows our Community Guidelines, and don’t share personal information you’re uncomfortable with others seeing.

Just for fun, each profile also includes a colorful little “pie” that shows which categories you’ve backed projects in. Hmm, what happens if you fill in every category?

Facebook Connect is a way for you to link your Facebook account to Kickstarter so you don't need to create a new account. It's the same as logging in through Facebook. Kickstarter uses the email you use for Facebook, and you don't have to remember a new password. It's easy!

If you're a creator and you've turned on Facebook Connect, your Facebook username and friend count will be displayed in your Kickstarter bio (at the bottom-right corner of your project page). This helps backers learn more about the people behind the projects they support, and builds trust between the backer and creator.

If having your Facebook profile a click away makes you uncomfortable, you can either adjust your privacy settings on your Facebook profile or disconnect from Facebook through the "About You" section of your Edit Project page or on your account page.

If you're currently receiving Kickstarter emails, and you'd like to opt out, visit your notifications page to adjust your settings. Make sure you’re logged in to Kickstarter when you do so. From the notifications page you’ll be able to unsubscribe to specific project updates or from the Kickstarter newsletter.

Alternatively, if you're unsubscribing from the newsletter, you can just click the Unsubscribe button in the footer of the message.

Setting a unique password helps to ensure the security of your account. Tools like 1Password and LastPass are great for generating unique passwords and keeping track of them.

Enabling two-factor authentication is an additional step you can take to further ensure that only you can access your account. With this feature enabled, you'll get verification codes via text message, phone call, or an authentication app whenever you try to access your account from an unfamiliar device. You’ll be prompted to enter that code before you can access your account.

Select "set up two-factor authentication" under the "Security" heading, and follow the indicated steps to set up your phone to receive or generate verification codes.

With two-factor authentication enabled, you'll get verification codes via text message, phone call, or an authentication app whenever you try to access your account from an unfamiliar device. You'll be prompted to enter that code before you can access your account.

Curated Pages are open to cultural organizations and institutions in creative fields: museums, film societies, record labels, publishers, creative trade organizations, educational institutions, and more. Featured projects can be directly associated with an organization or simply align with its mission. As long as the project is on Kickstarter, it can be featured on a Curated Page.

If you're an organization looking to start a Curated Page, please know that they are extended by invitation, with an editorial focus in mind. We typically work with cultural organizations, arts groups, and educational institutions.

If your pledge was declined, just log in to Kickstarter and click the “Fix payment” button in the banner at the top of your screen. This will guide you through the process of changing your payment method. We'll also send you an email every 48 hours with a direct link to correct the issue. But don't delay: backers have 7 days to resolve payment issues before they're dropped from the project. We'll also automatically retry your pledge at the end of this timeframe.

3. Make sure you haven't exceeded the credit limit on your payment method.

If everything checks out, it's possible your bank put a hold on the charge. Please contact your bank to authorize the pledge. Once you've cleared up any issues with your bank or card, you'll still need to follow the "Fix Payment" link to retry your pledge.

When you pledge, our payments provider may temporarily authorize your card— this is just to make sure that your card works and can be successfully charged when the time comes. Occasionally, multiple preauthorizations may occur per pledge. (Since funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing, you'll only be charged if the project is successfully funded.)

Please note that when using pledging using American Express from Apple Pay, your pledge will be authorized for the full amount.

If you are using a computer that is logged in to someone else's Facebook, connecting your Kickstarter account to Facebook will create a link to that other person's account. Make sure that whichever computer you're working on is either logged out of Facebook or already logged in as yourself.